18 April 2010

"Waiting for the second volcanic shoe to drop"

New Scientist has a brief report on the volcanos of Iceland:
"...volcanologists have warned that previous Eyjafjallajökull eruptions have triggered eruptions of neighbouring Katla, one of the largest volcanoes in Iceland... The three eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in the last 1100 years – in 920, 1612 and 1821 – have all triggered larger Katla eruptions."
One implication of a larger eruption with a greater ash ejection might be an alteration in the earth's albedo or at least a partial shading of the surface, reversing global warming.  If we start heading toward a nuclear winter, it might become incumbent on everyone to start creating more greenhouse gases.  What happens to the value of your carbon credits then??

While we are on this subject, the photo above comes from a gallery of volcanic ash sunsets at The Guardian, showing a colorful sunset at Edinburgh.  It reminds me of the theory that Edvard Munch may have painted the sky red in his iconic painting, The Scream, because he remembered the sunsets after the explosion of Krakatoa ten years previously.

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